Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-07-31

Won have done yourself. Mrs. Careless
viii come to you, and tomorrow we
We will 90 TO your house in Bath, rs
This shock has brought on o return OF
your nervous disorder In q few days
I will communicate with you. Fare
ven we'll
"He stood in the door regarding me
fxedly, with such an awful look in ms
ewes that j flung mp my hands, ani'
Giving aloud, sank upon the floor.
~ hen ! recovered myself AIRS;
Careless was with me. The letters ana
roItrNt were 10 longer to be seen,
uiiL,r was tbe bracelet which held
Georges portrait. My gown was torn
ouen for air. and / was SARGE aoie 10
move: he Lad cared for my goo1 name
even Is he said BE- would, for the letters
ard MY picture were thrust out OF
sight; he had swept them into the Sc
cr,t drawer, wh,ra now leave them,
hopipg he nay find them when l am
cone. Since that dreadful DAY,
EXCEPT in the presence Of third per
son. 1 have never heard my hns-
lands voice. lie layishts all kindness
uron ne hut the silence oil death is
between rs, and / cannot clear myself.
Fer an rot 50 guilty as he believes me
TO he. J bioke my marriage vow IN the
spirit. It's tue-oh, so terribly true -
Int / kept the letter thereof. As
diving woman-I know | soon shall de,
even though | be 80 young swear J
am not the thing he thinks | am
write this. trusting that when am coil
in clay be will find the whole history OF
my life and have mercy upon my mem
oiy. For ] know my troubled spirit
Will not rest until the truth Is known.
The record Of tragedy played ont
so long ago closed abruptly. Savllie
wondered why he had been chosen as
| the recipient Of the dead woman's con-
| fdouce. None of the names men
toned in the sad recital conveyed any
meaning to him; and surely go Old
story must have been buried in oblivion
long since.
Hello. Saville working away as
usual ?" CHEEKY voice broke upon tue
hush of his room. A kindly face smiled
at bin from The doorway, as an Old col
leee friend, not seen for many months,
crossed the threshold. "Here you are,
You enviablo man, the very picture of
happiness, seated in the midst of your
household gods. You have been add
ing a few more gems to your collec-
tion, eh?"
sayille said he had.
"What a glorious old bureau BY
Jove, Lancclot, you have perfect ge-
MUS for ferretinG out prizes. 1t IS
beauty. Where did you pick it mp?
Here in London 2"
And John Gerard examined the She
ration with the keen eyes of a c0anois-
scur, but after close inspection Of
| the bureau he turned Il grave face upOn
| his friend. "Did you mako any in
quiries about this when you bought it ?
| Do you know its history ?" he asked.
Il No. saw at once that 1t was
genuine, and | gave the dealer fair
price for it, Is to its history, | never
gave it a thought" Saville replied.
May ] open it rather think !
have seen it before ?" Gerard sid.
sayille opened the desk and let his
friend inspect the fine old article as
carefully rs lie wished.
$40 You recognize it ?" he asked,
when Gerard had spent some tine il
xanininG It's peculiar design Oh tue
falling front.
~ DO. You have got possession OF
my grandmother's bureau. How my
cousin Harry bias been induced to part
with it | cannot tell. He may not
know its story. Ny grandmother said
it bad secret drawer which could not
he got at without breaking up the
whole thing, and that in the drawer
were papers containing family secret.
Moreover. they used to say it was
haunted"
Don't laugh at me, Gerard, but |
believe have laid the ghost" And
Sayillo told lis tale. Gerard listened
attentively.
"Wen," he said, "it's certainly
about the queerest thing | have heard
Of for some time. bly, dear fellow, you
have discovered bit of our family his
tory. Ny grandmother. dear old soul,
was Stephen Bottoms daughter by
second marriage. He was sixty, il not
oyerit. when she was born she was his
only child. It's bis money We have got,
you know. ali that's left of it, at any
rate. and this old bureau was bequest
TO my Grannie from her father. He
told her that it contained papers rela-
ting to his first marriage hidden in the
| = T., LII hop IL fh.r,, Ii.
as there was no use disturbing the
secrets Of the dead. But he never let
the thing ont of his sight during his
last illness. He was ninety when he
died ; and Grannie always said she was
sure that, although he was wonderfully
good to her mother, he loved his first
wife best"
Were the two men dreaming, or did
faint odor Of roses sweep past them
through the room and soft sigh echo
close to them? They looked at each
other for moment in silence, then
Gerard spoke.
she was SO beautiful, so young, so
loving, for one, as the descendant Of
the man who loved her, who always
loved Der, even when he seemed hard
est to her |. with all my heart, be-
lieve her story, believe She WAS not
guilty, md that bad she lived longer
she would have regained ler husbands
confidence, for am persuaded, from
what his daughter told ne, she never
lost his love"
Sweet and faint, dying upon the
warm atmosphere of the room, the
scent OF the roses waited over them as
if some one Qlided 10y whose garments
exhaled the delicate odor.
Gerard bent his head.
"She suffered much" he said. "Let
no nan cast stone upon her grave.
lie was silent for some time.
"Lancelot," he said in a subdued
voice, "if You ever want to part with
that bureau III gladly take it from
you, ghosts and all"